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Who Would Make You Work Harder, a Mean or a Nice Trainer?

Do you work with a fitness trainer? I have a confession: I am a trainer virgin. I've toyed with the idea of hiring someone from time to time, but I've never actually taken the plunge. I guess I've always enjoyed working out solo and have been confident in my ability to know my way around the gym. But, after this baby arrives, I've decided to go the trainer route. But who's more effective? Someone who'll kick my butt or someone who will pat me on the back?

Be choosy when selecting a trainer, says exercise expert Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., who wrote about what to look for in a fitness trainer for MSN.

But it's your trainer's temperament that falls in the gray area. There are trainers who are really easy going and sweet, and others who are downright mean. Ask anyone who's ever worked with a trainer and you'll get all kinds of responses about which personality type is better for your fitness. I have friends who swear that the fear of their trainers' "wrath" is the only reason they continue to get up every morning at 5:30 a.m. to go jogging. But is that such a healthy thing?

Mean vs. nice? I think I'd take a nice trainer with a slight mean streak. You?

Photo: iStock

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Sarah JioHealth and fitness writer. Lover of running, Nespresso, Lululemon, and all things French. Mama. New York Times best-selling author. Sometime insomniac.